Research

Macro partitioning

Obese individuals exhibit altered glutamine metabolism, characterized by decreased serum glutamine and alpha-ketoglutarate, and increased succinate, which correlates with M1 macrophage accumulation.

Obesity is associated with lower levels of glutamine and alpha-ketoglutarate, and higher succinate. While this is a marker of disease, simply taking glutamine supplements may not fully reverse these changes in humans, as muscle mass and other factors also play a role. Focus on overall metabolic health.

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Interestingly, patients with obesity or diabetes show altered glutamine metabolism, including decreases in glutamine and α-ketoglutarate concentrations in serum but increases in succinate concentrations.
Wenkai Ren et al. · Advances in Nutrition · 2018

Why this rating

Based on metabolomics studies in humans (children with obesity) and animal models, providing strong observational evidence.

Source

Glutamine Metabolism in Macrophages: A Novel Target for Obesity/Type 2 Diabetes

Wenkai Ren et al. · Advances in Nutrition · 2018

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